Monday’s early trade saw ongoing falls in oil prices as investors evaluated the rise in OPEC+ output from next October against a dramatic drop in Libyan output amid weak demand in China and the United States, the biggest consumers of oil worldwide.
At $76.36 a barrel, 0108 GMT, Brent crude futures dropped 57 cents, or 0.7 percent. At $73.05 a barrel, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude future prices dropped 50 cents, or 0.7 percent.
The losses follow a 0.3 percent drop in Brent crude last week and a 1.7 percent drop in West Texas Intermediate crude.
Six sources from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and associates, sometimes known as OPEC+, told Reuters that the organisation is almost ready to proceed with a planned rise in oil output from October.
Part of a strategy to start easing the last tranche of 2.2 million barrels per day of production cutbacks with subsequent reductions to continue until the end of 2025, eight OPEC+ members are slated to boost their output by 180,000 barrels daily in October.
While exports remain stopped, engineers said Sunday, following a conflict between armed factions closing most of Libya’s oil resources, the Arabian Gulf Oil Company has resumed daily production of up to 120,000 barrels to suit domestic requirements.
Two straight months of losses for Brent and WTI crude have resulted from economic concerns in China and the United States overshadowing disruptions to Libyan supplies and growing Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions.
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency showed on Friday that U.S. oil consumption dropped in June to its lowest seasonal level since the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.
